Interpretative and Community Centre for the Rathcroghan Celtic Royal Complex, Roscommon, Ireland - Ancient Cruachan, home of Queen Maeve, the Táin, and the Medieval village of Tulsk.

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Tuesday, February 12, 2013

Tulsk Fort in County Roscommon

Snow Fort, Tulsk, January 2013

Beside Rathcroghan Visitor Centre is the national monument known as 'Tulsk Fort', which was the site of an archaeological dig conducted by the Discovery Programme, as part of their Medieval Rural Settlement Project, which began in 2002.

"a raised ringfort located at the centre of Tulsk village. The ringfort lies 60m east of a stone-filled earthen mound in Castleland townland that is considered to be the site of Tulsk Castle, and is c.100m north of a Dominican Priory founded in 1448. The ringfort retains a dominant position in the wider topography and suggests that this was a location of primary importance throughout the medieval period."

When the dig began in 2004, we didn't know what would be found, but nobody was expecting 5 main layers of activity, from pre-history right through to late Medieval/Elizabethan.

North Roscommon in general, and Tulsk in particular, had a vital role to play as a centre of medieval power in the West of Ireland.

Inside the Fort, DP archaeological dig in Tulsk

Find out more at the Tulsk Gathering events in July and August 2013, run by Rathcroghan Visitor Centre, Tulsk.